


Ripple Effect

by theskywasblue



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Bath Sex, M/M, Plot What Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-07
Updated: 2010-07-07
Packaged: 2017-10-10 10:41:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/98859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theskywasblue/pseuds/theskywasblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dokugakuji indulges himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ripple Effect

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Epiphanytiff](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Epiphanytiff).



The stone-tiled walls of Houtou Castle’s royal bath chamber had a way of magnifying even the smallest of sounds; the steady drip of condensation alone, when echoing off the high and elaborately painted ceiling, could be deafening.

Dokugakuji could tell that Kougaiji was in the bath because there was more steam than air in the wide room when he pushed back the sheer curtain and stepped inside; it was like trying to move through molasses, and the low gauzy haze was thick enough to obscure his vision. The only sound he could hear was the steady trickle of the small cold water fountain directly to the right of the door. He trailed his fingers around the rim of the marble basin and dipped them into the shallow, chilled water, feeling his nerves come alive at the touch.

He had never thought that he had a particular affinity for water – despite what his heritage might say to the contrary. Sure, he could hold his breath a little longer than some people, and he didn’t get those unsightly pruned fingertips no matter how long he decided to soak; but that was never anything that stood out or could impress him or anyone else for that matter. His father had told him a few stories when he was a kid, but had never demonstrated any of the skills he liked to talk about, so Dokugakuji had always figured it was just a lot of bullshit.

His old man had liked to talk out of his ass after all. He always had one story or another to tell.

And that was all Dokugakuji had thought they were – stories – until he found himself living in the middle of the desert; and suddenly his relationship with water was very different. He not only needed it to quench his thirst and wash dirt and sweat off his skin – he _wanted_ it, sometimes almost as powerfully as an addict needed a fix.

Luckily, Houtou castle could more than provide. In the midst of the desert they never seemed to be without water, and if Dokugakuji used more of it than anyone else, no one ever said.

Still, the royal bath chamber – with its enormous sunken tub, big enough to accommodate a dozen men easily , high, domed ceiling complete with skylight, and elegantly tiled floor inlaid with real, glittering gemstones set in a pattern to suggest licking flames – was a rare indulgence. Mostly because he felt a little out of place. He still felt like a pretender in Houtou’s more glamorous rooms, the places Kou carefully maintained because they reminded him of his mother, or his childhood, or the great, beautiful thing Houtou castle could be if it didn’t have a gaudy she-fox for a caretaker. Kougaiji had told him he could use the bath any time he liked, generously catering to Dokugakuji’s desire to be lost in water, but he tried to limit himself. He wasn’t used to the finer things in life, and part of him resisted getting used to them; because surely he wouldn’t always have them. He never really had anything for very long.

“I can hear you thinking from all the way over here.”

Dokugakuji bit his cheek to hold back his laughter as he moved though the cottony tangle of steam and the rich scent of Kougaiji’s favourite soap – orange spice. Dokugakuji preferred the hand-made cucumber scented bars little girls from one of the nearby villages sold in the market, but that was just a personal taste. Orange spice made the back of his throat tingle.

Kougaiji sat on the low ledge that ringed the great tub, arms stretched out along the tiled edge, steaming water encasing his graceful, tanned body, tendrils of red hair floating around him on the surface. His lavender eyes studied Dokugakuji sharply from beneath his moisture-flattened bangs.

“Sorry Kou – I didn’t mean to disturb your bath.”

“Obviously you did,” Kougaiji set one heel on the raised bench, so that just the top of his knee showed above the water. The flush of heat made his skin several shades darker and it was an effort to not stare, “or you wouldn’t have come sauntering in while I was here.”

Dokugakuji didn’t think he ‘sauntered’ as such, but he wasn’t about to argue the point. That would just make Kougaiji annoyed and likely to toss him out on his ear. “I could go.”

“Or you could stay,” the prince sank a little further into the water, closing his eyes again, "you could help me wash my back."

He was probably teasing, but still, when Dokugakuji swallowed he felt the tingling sensation that had been at the back of his throat slide down into the pit of his stomach before digging in deeper, rooting itself at the base of his cock. He was glad for the heavy drape of the towel, but that wasn't going to disguise anything for long. Neither would the water for that matter.

Being turned on by Kougaiji - the way he moved, the way he talked, his touch, his scent, just about everything about him was a turn on in one way or another - wasn't exactly a new sensation; and it wasn't like he had never done anything about it either. He had shared the prince's bed a handful of times - amazing times, definitely - but that, again, was something he was pretty sure he shouldn't get used to.

"Well - are you going to come in or not?" Kougaiji demanded finally, sounding slightly irritated, opening his eyes again to fix Dokugakuji with an unhappy stare, "I can't concentrate on relaxing with you standing there."

"If you have to concentrate on relaxing, then are you really relaxing?" Kougaiji gave him a warning look and Dokugakuji laughed apologetically, "I guess I'm not helping huh?"

"_Definitely_ not. Now get in the water already."

There was no arguing with that. Dokugakuji tugged his towel loose and let it fall to the tiles, trying not to blush as Kougaiji's eyes skimmed appreciatively over his naked body.

"Holy shit Kou..." he hissed through his teeth as he sank into the water, feeling his blood turn molten in his veins, "hot enough? You're going to boil yourself."

"I haven't done it yet," Kouagaiji replied smartly.

Dokugakuji took half a dozen deep breaths, waiting for his head to stop spinning. Once his body was accustomed to the heat, and it didn't feel like his brain was being turned into porridge, it was actually quite pleasant.

"Do you always have your baths this hot?"

The prince smiled. The flush on his skin was more obvious from the new angle, and more enticing, "Why not? If I wanted to float around in cool water then I would go swimming."

It made sense. Maybe. Dokugakuji still felt a little light-headed. He mimicked Kougaiji's pose and spread his arms out along the edge of the tub, if only to keep himself from melting into the water entirely. Almost immediately he started to feel drowsy and his eyes drifted shut of their own accord.

"Falling asleep on the job?" Kougaiji's voice pulled him gently back into a state of semi-wakefulness, "I thought you were going to wash my back."

Dokugakuji made a vague gesture without opening his eyes, "You're going to have to come over here if you want that Kou - I don't think I can move."

The water shifted, lapping against Dokugakuji's throat, caressing his skin, and he felt a hand skim carefully up his thigh.

"You would have made a terrible valet Dokugakuji," the words were all but whispered against his jaw, followed by soft lips, and a graze of sharp teeth. Despite the heat, Dokugakuji shuddered. Kougaiji turned and settled between his knees and Dokugakuji's hands went to his shoulders on reflex, kneading water-dampened skin until Kougaiji handed him the soap.

If he hadn't been hard before, he was as soon as he gently pulled Kougaiji's hair aside and slid his thumbs down either side of the column of Kougaiji's spine. The prince made a soft, content noise, a little tremor of pleasure shaking him and moved toward the touch. All Dokugakuji could think to do - before the situation got out of hand (or into it) - was push his palms up over Kougaiji's shoulders and down his arms.

"How long were you planning to make me wait?"

"Uh...I don't..." it was hard to focus when his cock was rubbing against the small of Kougaiji's back and Kougaiji's fingertips were rubbing tiny circles on the tops of his knees. When he tried to concentrate he realized he could actually feel the almost insubstantial ripples the prince's movements were making and the way they rebounded off his skin. "I don't think I know what you mean Kou."

Kougaiji shifted forward just a little, exhaling softly, “Are you being difficult on purpose, or do you really not know? For your _company_ Dokugaku. It’s been a long time since we were alone.”

_Long time_ didn’t really cover it. It felt like forever. Between chasing sutras, running pointless errands for Gyokumen Koushu and all the other crap that seemed to happen on a daily basis, they were almost never alone. And if they were, well...Dokugakuji didn’t want to intrude, didn’t want to _expect_...

“You’re thinking again,” Kougaiji’s tone was darkly disapproving.

“How do you know?” Dokugakuji responded automatically.

“Because your hands aren’t moving.”

Dokugakuji laughed, bringing his lips to the soft place where Kougaiji’s jaw met his neck, catching a stray droplet of water without a thought, “Sorry Kou.”

He meant it too; not just for letting his hands – which now slipped beneath the water and along Kougaiji’s thighs, before coming back up to tease his hips – stop, but for being the idiot that he could be sometimes, focused too much on the worries of things. He was good at worrying, had done nothing but worry about one thing or the other for as long as he could remember.

It was probably time to let that stuff go.

Easy enough to do once he got Kougaiji on the edge of the tub, feet still hanging in the water, and started mouthing his cock, lapping water gently off his balls before running up his length with one slow swipe of his tongue that had Kougaiji arching against the slick tile, making sounds that should have been illegal. His thighs quivered as he brought one foot up and braced it on Dokugakuji’s shoulder, opening himself to the caress of Dokugakuji’s soap-slick fingers.

It should have been unnerving the way Kougaiji watched him, eyes wide and wild-bright, as if he had to be sure for every second they shared that it was Dokugakuji’s tongue caressing the crown of his cock, Dokugakuji’s throat relaxing to take him in, and Dokugakuji’s fingers pushed inside him to the last knuckle, rubbing his prostate until he writhed against the tile. He finally went glassy-eyed with pleasure when Dokugakuji lifted him back into the warm embrace of the water and pushed inside him. He gasped against Dokugakuji’s jaw, trying to grip his shoulders without scratching and shifted his hips steadily until the water lapped against both of their bodies.

For Dokugakuji each touch of the water felt like the touch of another hand, sparking every nerve until he was helpless with sensation. Neither of them lasted long.

Kougaiji clung to him for a long moment afterwards, hands stroking his shoulders, fingers playing with the tendrils of damp hair on the back of his neck before moving carefully away. The water seemed cold in comparison to the heat of his body. Dokugakuji watched him climb from the tub, admiring the flush of his dark skin, and feeling momentarily jealous of the rivulets of water running over the planes of his back and the curve of his gorgeous ass.

Kougaiji wrapped himself in one of the discarded towels before looking back over his shoulder, face touched with an enigmatic smile. “I hope you’ll join me in my chambers this evening Dokugaku.”

Heat and lingering pleasure caused Dokugakuji’s mind to hesitate over the prince’s words as if they didn’t make logical sense. Kougaiji was nearly at the door before he could manage to make a connection between his brain and his mouth.

“You hope?”

“Yes. Very much.”

-End-


End file.
